Court: Dad spent £6,500 online using his landlord’s name

A father-of-two renting a home from a Grantham couple ran up thousands of pounds worth of debt by ordering goods from online retailers in his landlord’s name.

Nicholas Todd, now living in Nether Pasture, Netherfield, Nottingham, but previously of Blairgowie Close, Grantham, ran up debts of £6,568.78 by ordering goods from companies such as Littlewoods, Next, Jacamo, Very and Isme - all in the name of his landlord.

The court heard how the owners of the property had moved to Hong Kong and rented the house to Todd, 26.

The fraud was only discovered when the landlord’s mother visited the property suspecting it had been abandoned and found the bills in her son’s name.

Abbie Edwards, defending, said Todd committed the crime because he had a young family and couldn’t get credit in his own name.

She added: “Regrettably and foolishly he bought goods in his landlord’s name using his landlord’s details.

“He tells me that when he ordered the goods he intended to pay the bills in full however he had a short period of unemployment and it’s fair to say he buried his head in the sand and panicked because he could not repay the items.”

Todd, who now lives with his mother, told the court he would repay the outstanding sums to the online companies at the rate of £100 per week.

Todd admitted seven charges of fraud by false representation and was ordered to pay £6,568.78 in compensation and complete 120 hours of unpaid work.